Holiday classic comes to life tonight as Fox airs ‘A Christmas Story Live!’

"A Christmas Story, The Musical"has been a Broadway hit. The adaptation of the musical and the original 1983 film is coming to television Sunday night.

By
Bob D’Angelo, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Ralphie Parker still wants that Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. His classmate still gets his tongue stuck to a frozen pole after a “triple dog dare.” And that tacky lamp that looks like a woman’s leg makes another appearance.

At 7 p.m. ET, Fox will air “A Christmas Story Live!” It’s a musical adaptation of the 1983 film “A Christmas Story” and the 2012 Broadway musical, “A Christmas Story: The Musical.” The show will be the only live television adaptation of the holiday season, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The story plot is the same, as it is based on the short stories of Jean Shepherd. Set in Indiana during the 1940s, 9-year-old Ralphie will be played by Andy Walken. Chris Diamantopoulos and Maya Rudolph are cast as his parents, and Matthew Broderick is the narrator -- the adult version of Ralphie.

Other cast members include Ana Gasteyer, David Alan Grier, Ken Jeong and Jane Krakowski.

The film remains a cult classic. TBS and TNT have broadcast a 24-hour marathon of the film every Christmas Day since 1997, the Times reported.

"I've watched the movie every single year since I can remember," Walken, 11, told the Times.

“It's the perfect movie in some ways,” Diamantopoulos told the Times. “Because even though it was made in 1983, it captured this little pocket of what our perception of 1940 (wa)] and that story that Jean Shepherd created -- this idea of a kid whose one Christmas wish is a Red Ryder BB gun. It's a great telling of a time gone by and a great reminder of the simple pleasures.”

You can bet that Ralphie will hear the admonition “You’ll shoot your eye out!” one more time as he cocks the BB gun and fires.